


Separated

by HooleQuinn



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Hand wavy magic, Hand wavy science, Hopeful Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Morse Code, Open Ending, Out of Body Experiences, POV Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HooleQuinn/pseuds/HooleQuinn
Summary: “If you are who I think you are,” Steve said with a cautious optimism, “I’m afraid you’ll have to prove it. Tell me something only we would know.”Tony ends up separated from his physical body. Luckily he still found a way to let Steve know about it.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 72





	Separated

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by an idea from Icy over on the AA Stony Discord server, who had the idea of a separated from their body story, with the separated one seeing how the other one really feels about them. I thought it might be interesting having the one who was separated still be able to interact with the physical world, even in a limited capacity.

“I’m sorry...”

Steve Rogers sat in a chair in Tony Stark’s lab, while the billionaire lay unconscious on the table. Wires ran from Tony’s arc reactor and were hooked up to various machines. Tony had taken a hard hit during their last battle and had gotten knocked out. The last time this happened, getting Tony hooked up essentially shocked him back to consciousness, but that wasn’t the case this time.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,” Steve held onto Tony’s hand as he spoke, kissing the back of it before he continued. He chuckled half-heartedly. “I know you’d probably say you don’t need my protection. I know you can take care of yourself. And I know sometimes you’ll get hurt, it’s sort of inevitable with this job. But for my own peace of mind, I need to know I did everything I could to prevent that.” Steve knew he was rambling, but if Tony had been awake, he didn’t know if he would have had the courage to tell him all this.

“This time I didn’t. I wasn’t fast enough, and I’m so sorry,” He fought the tears trying to well up in his eyes. He closed his them and put his head gently down on Tony’s chest. “Please wake up…”

After a few seconds, Steve felt a pressure on the hand that wasn’t holding Tony’s. The pressure briefly tightened as if his hand was being squeezed.

“Tony?” Steve sat up and the pressure on his hand left. He thought maybe Tony had woken up and squeezed his hand. However, according to the monitors Tony was still out, and it didn’t look like he had moved at all. Steve brought his hand up and flexed his fingers. Something didn’t feel normal about this, though he couldn’t figure out why. He was sure _something_ had squeezed his hand. He brought it back down and the pressure returned, followed by a tapping on the back of his hand. Steve fought the instinct to draw his hand back. After about a minute, he noticed there was a pattern to it, almost like- Morse code! Something was trying to communicate with him. He concentrated on the pattern.

“STEVE IT'S ME.”

With that, Steve withdrew his hand and stood up in surprise, taking a few steps back from the table. “JARVIS, scan for life signs.”

“I currently detect two life signs in this room,” the AI replied.

Unless JARVIS was wrong, only he and Tony were in the room. However, the Tower had been infiltrated by unfamiliar forces before. Steve desperately wanted to believe that had somehow been Tony, but he had to be sure. He didn’t want to find out later that he had fallen into a trap.

“If you are who I think you are,” Steve said with a cautious optimism, “I’m afraid you’ll have to prove it. Tell me something only we would know.” He held out his hand and after a brief time the tapping returned.

“LAST NIGHT U HAD A NIGHTMARE. ABOUT THE WAR. I HELD U TILL U CALMED DOWN.” That was true, much as he may not have wanted to admit it. Steve didn’t get nightmares often, but when he did, they were intense. The tapping continued. “THIS MORNING CLINT CAUGHT US-“

“Okay, okay, I believe you!” Steve pulled his hand back, before the tapping, before _Tony_ , could finish his sentence. He looked over at Tony’s unconscious physical form, seemingly unaffected by what was going on. He then felt a weight at his back and a pressure around his middle, as if he were being hugged from behind. Steve instinctively brought his arms down around his stomach. It was a weird feeling, like touching a forcefield. He couldn’t exactly feel Tony’s arms, but something was blocking him from touching his stomach.

“Tony, how-? What happened?” The pressure around his middle shifted and Steve felt a tapping on his arm.

“DON’T KNOW. GOT HIT. BLACKED OUT. WOKE UP SEPARATED.”

“Separated from your body, you mean?” Steve said as he again looked at Tony’s body, prone on the table. The pressure around his middle tightened briefly and Steve took that as a yes. “I guess that explains why you haven’t woken up yet. You took a strong hit to your chest and your arc reactor got damaged as well.” He brightened. “Since you can touch me, and I can feel you, you have some interaction with physical things. Would you be able to…?” He trailed off, as he didn’t know how to tactfully finish that question. Luckily, Tony seemed to understand what he meant.

“CAN’T MOVE OR PICK UP THINGS. ALREADY TRIED. CAN ONLY TOUCH.”

Steve sobered. He knew that had been a long shot, but he figured he had to ask. “Understood. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to-,”Steve paused as the weight against his back shifted and he felt a light pressure on his cheek. Was that a kiss? Was Tony trying to reassure him?

“DON’T REPEAT IT. HEARD U JUST NOW,” Steve felt Tony squeeze him again. “NOT UR FAULT.”

Steve felt a warmth come to his cheeks and knew he was blushing. He hadn't actually meant for Tony to hear any of that. “I can’t help it, it’s still how I feel.”

"SAP."

He let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"IF YOU ARE THEN I AM TOO"

"How do you mean?" Steve asked, a little confused.

This time no tapping followed. Had he made Tony upset somehow? After a minute or so of silence, the tapping came back.

“CAN’T BE IRON MAN RIGHT NOW.”

“Iron Man isn’t the suit, Tony,” Steve replied as he felt a touch on his cheek again. He must have earned another kiss. A kiss of gratitude, perhaps?

“CAN’T PROTECT U.”

“Oh…Tony,” Steve felt his heart clench. Is that what Tony felt whenever they went into a fight? Both of them apparently made it a personal mission to make sure the other stayed safe. “I promise, we’ll figure this out.”

After a beat, the weight at his back and the pressure around his stomach left. Steve had a moment of internal panic. Had Tony been spirited away? Was he now unable to communicate with him at all? He looked back at Tony’s body for any signs that maybe he shifted back, but everything appeared to be the same. Then he felt something, felt _Tony_ , grab his upper arms and squeeze. Then he felt a tapping on his shoulder. It was quicker than before, as if in excitement.

“STRANGE.” 

Steve smirked. “I bet! I can’t even begin to imagine what that must feel like.” It was weird enough for him, talking to Tony's unseen entity and not quite knowing where to look.

“NO. I MEAN, YES, IT’S WEIRD. I MEAN DR. STRANGE.”

“Of course!” Steve grinned, looking at where he hoped Tony's face was. “If anyone knows a way out of this, it would be him. And may I say, that’s awfully big of you turning to the local wizard for help.”

Tony’s tapping replied somewhat forcefully. “NOT MAGIC. UNEXPLAINED SCIENCE.”

Despite their situation, Steve felt comforted by that response. Any lingering doubts Steve might have had that it was truly Tony fully dissipated at that. “Whatever you say, Tony,” he replied with a laugh. He felt something lightly hit his upper arm. Tony must have playfully smacked it. Then the tapping on his shoulder came back.

“SHUT UP. JUST HAVE JARVIS CONTACT HIM.”

“I will. You’re gonna be whole again, don’t worry.” At that, there was now a weight at his front, and something wrapped around his shoulders. He felt a lingering touch on his lips. Steve tried to return the kiss as best he could, with the thought registering in the back of his mind how odd this would look if someone happened to walk in. When Tony broke it off, Steve felt Tony’s weight shake against him. That most likely meant one of two things.

“Talk to me. Are you laughing or crying?” More tapping came, this time on the back of his neck.

“LAUGHING. THAT WAS THE WEIRDEST FEELING. LET’S DO IT AGAIN.”

Steve had to agree. That was definitely the most bizarre kiss he’d ever experienced, though not in a bad way. He wouldn’t object to trying it again, but he knew there were priorities here. “Shouldn’t I be trying to contact Dr. Strange? I mean, we should get you back together as soon as we can.”

“FINE. BUT THEN WE CONTINUE THIS. FOR SCIENCE. MAY NOT HAVE THIS CHANCE AGAIN.”

“I certainly don’t want this situation to become a habit,” Steve responded. “So, I suppose we should gather as much data as we can.” Steve barely had enough time to tell JARVIS to contact Dr. Strange before he felt Tony’s lips on his again. He knew they probably only had seconds before Strange answered, so they had to make it count.


End file.
